This report presents a collective opinion of the Radioactive Waste Management Committee of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA) and of the International Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the methodology and means for assessing the safety of radioactive waste disposal practices and concepts. It has been endorsed by the experts for the Community Plan of Action in the Field of Radioactive Waste Management of the Commission of the European Communities (CEC).
This report is concerned with radioactive waste disposal. It should be stressed, however, that there are many other nonradioactive types of hazardous wastes with real or potential environmental impacts. Radioactive wastes are just a part of the overall waste management and disposal problems confronting society today.